Method of making wheels



Oct. 20, 1931. G. SPATTA METHOD OF MAKING WHEELS Original Filed May 28,1923 Patented Oct. 20, 1931 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE GEORGE 824mm, orBUCHANAN, mcmom, ABSIGNOB 'ro dun: momma: conrm, or snowman, MICHIGAN, Aconromrrox or IIGHIGAN umnon or mine wlmnns Original application ma m2a, 1928, Serial No. 280,980. Divided and um 1929. Serial No. 355,011.

My present invention relates to the method of manufacturing a sheetmetal wheel of the type disclosed in my cotpending appllcation, SerialNo. 246,926 filed anuary 16,1928, and

this application is a division of my copending application, Serial No.280,980 filed May In the manufacture of metal wheels of the spokedvariety it is desirable to secure a maximum of strength with minimumweight, and

to this end I make the spider ofthe wheel of sheet metal stampingssuitably Joined inthe preferred form by alock seam construct on, andthereafter force the spider laterally 1nto the rim so as to put thespider under pressure and the rim under tension.

Where the spider is made of sheet metal of the order offifty-thousandths of an inch thickness, it is desirable to employ thespider in both tension and compression, since sheet metal is able tosustain a load in tension much better than it is in compression, eventhough formed into tubular spokes, and in order to unite the spider andrim some form of connection should be employed which will permit theupper half of the wheel to act in tension while the lower part is incompression due to a load applied at the hub.

According to the present invention 1 force the s ider into the rim underpressure or shrink the rim onto the ends of the spokes of the spider andthen spot-weld the ends of the lack seams to the web of the rim, therebysecuring the rim and spider against lateral displacement, locking theend of the lock seam to giveit the desirable hoop strength and forming ajoint between the spoke and the rim which can sustain a large part ofthe load in tension.

Now in order to acquaint those skilled in the art with the manner ofconstructing and dperating a device according to my invention, I shalldescribe in connection with the accompanying drawings the process ofmanufacturing a. sheet metal wheel and the wheel resulting from thesame.

In the drawings Fig. 1 is a side elevational view of a whee embodying myinvention.

application filed April 15,

Fig. 2 is an ed view of the wheel taken from the top of ig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary section through the end of a spoke and theadjacent part of the web of the rim. 7

Fig. 4 is a fra entary cross section through the end of t e spoke and a.drop cen= ter rim; and

Fig. 5 is an edge view of the supporting rim or clamp by which the spokeends are supported for forcing the spider into the I'lIIl.

The wheel shown in Fig. 1 comprises an endless circular rolled rim 1 ofoutwardly facing channel section com rising the flanges 2 and 3 andconnecting web 4. This form of rim may be bought on the open market withthe holes 5 punched for the reception of bolts for holding the clampinglugs which are received in the openings 6 also punched in the rim.

The spider 7 is made up of two complementary sheet metal stampings drawnfrom sheets of metal of a thickness of the order of fifty-thousandths ofan inch. These complementary stampings comprise a disk shaped hubportion 8 of circular outline having a central opening 9 defined byinwardly extending flanges meeting in the median plane of the wheeltransverse to the axis. The hub disk 8 is joined to the web portion 10through a shoulder 11, the dimensions of which shoulder may be variedfor controlling the thickness of the hub of the wheel. S okes 12, 12 areformed integral with the we 10, and this web is in turn integral withthe hub disk 8. The spokes 12, 12 are substantially cylindrical. Themargins of the two stampings on the sides of the spokes and web portion10 between spokes are united by lock seams employing t lock seams beinggenerally U-shaped and being swaged or pressed into tight engagementwith cooperating flanges formed on the margins of the stampings. The hubportions 8, 8 of the two stampmgs are joined together by tubular rivets14, 14, which are shouldered to space the hub disks 8 to the desireddimension depressions or seats 15, 15 being formed 1n the hub disk 8 toreceive the heads e channel strips 13, these of the hollow shoulderedrivets 14, said heads 1 ing below the plane of the outside of the disks8, 8. Themanufacture of the spider is set forth in detail in my co ndingapplication Serial No. 280,981 filed fay 28,1928.

After the s ider and rim have been separately forme the spider is clam din a ring clamp comprising two heavy, rigid forgings lying upon oppositesides of the spider and having radial grooves fitting closely the sidesof the spokes, the outer eriphery of the clam bein substantially ushwith the ends of t e spoies and supporting the same. The clamping rin 16comprises two rin members 22 and 23 aving suitably form radial openingsat their meeting1 edges as indicated at 24 and 25 to receive t eindividual spokes and clamp the same firmly. A series of bolts or capscrews 26 is emploied to clamp the two rings 22 and 23 toget er upon thespoke ends so as to form with the s ider a rigid connection. Thediameter of the clamping ring 16 is substantially equal to or slightlless than the diameter of the s ider an the face between the openingsfor t e spokes may be recessed and the si es of the rings 22 and 23chamfered oil as indicated in Figure 5 so that substantially on thesurfaces surrounding the o nings 2425 remain flush with the ends 0 thespokes.

The clam with the spider carried thereby is force laterally into the rimto tension the rim upon the s ider, one of the halves of the clamp beings own at 16' in Fig. 3. The gripping of the ends of the spokes in theclampln ring supports the spokes a ainst lateral crusliin when the spier is orced into the rim. ereafter the web of the rim is spot-welded tothe ends of the lock seams includin the channel strips 13, 13 by weldsindicated at 17, 17, these welds being produced by gripping the end ofthe spoke in one electrode and applying the'welding electrode at theoints 18, 18 indicated in Fig. 3. This weld not only joins the end ofthe spoke to the web of the rim, but also looks together the end of thelock seam so as to give the desired hoop strength to reenforce the endof the spoke against spreading or bursting under load.

The web 4 of the rim is not appreciably altered, and therefore remainssubstantially smooth so that if a tire should be placed directly uponthe same there are no irregularities next to the tire. This isparticularly applicable to rims of the drop center type which receivethe tire directly as indicated in Fig. 4. The drop center rim 20, whichhas a drop center 21, is connected to the spider 7 by havlng the spiderforced laterally into the rim and then the lock seams welded asindicated in Fig. 3 to the inner peripheral wall of the web or dropportion 21.

The rim may, of course, be shrunk upon the spider, but I prefer atpresent to provide a press fit connection between these parts since thetime required to make a press fit connection is less than that requiredfor shrinking the rim onto the spider and more accurate results can beobtained in view of the ability to size the rim 1 accurately by theintroduction of the clamping ring 16 into the same.

That is to say, if the rim is not strictl circular or is slightlysmaller than desire forcing the clamping ring 16 into the same brings itto the pro er size and dimensions for gripping the spi er with asuitable degree of tension.

I do not intend to be limited to the details shown and described exceptas they are recited in the a pended claims, nor to thespecific order 0performing the steps heremabove recited except as they are specificallyrequired by the following claims.

I claim:

1. The process of making a sheet metal wheel which comprises, unitingtwo spiders having semicylindrical spokes, pressing the two s iders intoan endless circular rim of a slig tly smaller diameter than the outsidediameter of the spiders to tension the rim onto the spider, and weldinthe web of the rim .to the spiders, thus we ding the spiders together attheir outer ends.

2. The method of making a sheet metal wheel, which comprises uniting twosheet metal stampings having semic lindrical spokesalong the sides ofthe spa es at the meeting edge of the stampin s b lock seams terminatesflush with the en s o the spokes, forcin the stampings into a circularrim which 1s slightly smaller inside diameter than the diameter of thestampings thereby tensioning the rim onto the stampings, and weldin theends of the spokes to the rim at the loc scams.

3. The method of making a sheet metal wheel which comprises forming aclosed circular rim of outwardly facing channel section, forming twosheet metal stampings comprising hub and spoke portions, forming ahallow sheet metal spider by uniting said stampings by lock meansextending along the sides of the spokes at the meetin edges of thestampings and terminating su stantially flush with the ends of thespokes, the rim being of a slightly smaller diameter than the diameterof the spider, forcing the spider into the rim thereby placin the rimunder tension and the spider un er compression, and welding the web ofthe rim to the ends of the loc seams on the spokes.

4. The method of making a wheel which comprises forming an endlesscircular rim, formin two sheet metal stampings comprising hu and spokeportions, unitin said stampings by lock seams along the s1 es of thespokes at the meeting edges of the stam ings and terminatingsubstantially flush with the ends of the sFokes, clamping the ends ofthe spokes in a. c am ing rin substantiall flush with the ends 0 thesin) es, the insi e diameter of the rim being s i htly lessthan theoutside diameter of the spi er and clamping ring, and forcing theclamping ring with the clamped stain ings therein into the rim therebyplacing t e rim under tension and the spider under compression.

In witness whereof I hereunto subscribe my name this 9th da of A ril,1929.

EOR E SPATTA.

